Christopher Crawford: Documentary Photography

Firehouse Emoji Chair

The Fort Wayne Fire Department's Fire Station #10 has a single metal motel chair sitting between two of the large garage doors on the front of the building. In 2010, one of the firefighters at the station painted a happy face on the yellow chair's round backrest. A year later, in the summer of 2011, the chair was suddenly painted a dull, flat brown color and the face was covered up.

In November, 2017, the chair caught my attention again. It was yellow again, and it had a new face on it! The new face was a frowning face based on a computer emoji. Instead of being painted on the chair, as the original happy face was, the new face was made from removable decals. Since then, the chair's "face" has been periodically changed, each time to a different emoji design.

Fire Station #10 is at the intersection of North Anthony Boulevard and Crescent Avenue on the northeast side of Fort Wayne, Indiana.